Promoted clubs 2026/27: who came up to the Premier League

The three promoted clubs in the Premier League for 2026/27 are Coventry City, Hull City and Ipswich Town, and they replace the three sides who finished bottom of last season's table: West Ham, Burnley and Wolves. Coventry return to the top flight after 25 years under Frank Lampard, Hull arrive as play-off winners, and Ipswich came up automatically. None of the three gets a gentle introduction, because all of them meet last season's top four inside the first three gameweeks.

Coventry City: back after 25 years

Coventry City are the return story of this promotion class. They are back in the top flight for the first time in 25 years, they come up as Frank Lampard's team, and they arrive having secured top spot in the Championship. Their opening fixtures are the cruellest of the three on paper: they start at Arsenal, the defending champions, on Friday 21 August at 20:00 BST, host Hull City on 29 August, then travel to Man City on 5 September. Two of those three opponents finished first and second last season, which is about the hardest first month a promoted club can draw.

Hull City: the play-off winners

Hull City come up the hard way, as the 2026 play-off winners, having beaten Middlesbrough 1-0 in the final, their third play-off final win. Their start is not gentle either: home to Man Utd on Saturday 22 August at 12:30 BST, away to Coventry on 29 August, and home to Aston Villa on 5 September. The Man Utd and Aston Villa games both pit them against last season's top four, with the trip to Coventry in between, an all-promoted meeting both sides will privately target as winnable.

Ipswich Town: the automatic promotion return

Ipswich Town are the only one of the three who came up without the play-offs, securing automatic promotion after going into the final day of the Championship season in second place. Their opening fixtures are the friendliest of the three in name, but not exactly in practice: home to Sunderland on 22 August, away to Man Utd on 30 August, and home to Liverpool on 4 September. The Sunderland game is the one they will want points from, because the two that follow are against last season's third- and fifth-placed sides.

Here is the opening month for all three, straight from the fixture list:

Club	GW1	GW2	GW3
Coventry City	Arsenal (A), Fri 21 Aug 20:00	Hull City (H), Sat 29 Aug 15:00	Man City (A), Sat 5 Sep 15:00
Hull City	Man Utd (H), Sat 22 Aug 12:30	Coventry City (A), Sat 29 Aug 15:00	Aston Villa (H), Sat 5 Sep 17:30
Ipswich Town	Sunderland (H), Sat 22 Aug 15:00	Man Utd (A), Sun 30 Aug 16:30	Liverpool (H), Fri 4 Sep 20:00

Promoted clubs 2026/27: what they replace

The three newcomers take the places of West Ham, Burnley and Wolves. West Ham went down in 18th on 39 points, Burnley in 19th on 22, and Wolves in 20th on 20. The line that matters is the one between 17th and 18th, because it defines how fine survival really is:

Pos	Club	Pts
17	Spurs	41
18	West Ham	39
19	Burnley	22
20	Wolves	20

41 points kept Spurs up, 39 sent West Ham down, so the difference between staying up and going straight back down was a single result. That is the number the promoted trio will be chasing from August. What relegation costs, and what the parachute payments are meant to soften, is covered in the relegation guide and the parachute payments guide.

The opening fixtures reality check

Here is the honest reading of the first three gameweeks: all three promoted clubs meet at least one of last season's top four, and two of them meet two. Coventry face the champions away and the runners-up away. Hull host the third- and fourth-placed sides. Only Ipswich get a home game against a side outside the top four in the opening round, and their follow-ups are Man Utd away and Liverpool at home.

The quirk worth arguing about is gameweek two. Ignore the glamour of Arsenal and Man City; the fixture that decides how Coventry's season starts is the one against Hull on 29 August, the first all-promoted meeting of the year. For the loser, the opening month is already a fight, and with last season's survival line sitting at 41 points, neither club can afford to treat it as a free hit. The route the three took to get here is explained in the promotion guide, and the season preview sets these openings against the rest of the division.

How the three fit into a 20-team season

Promotion keeps the league at 20 clubs, each playing 38 matches home and away, 380 fixtures in total. The mechanics are fixed: two clubs come up automatically, one via the play-offs, and the three relegated clubs from the previous season make way. The play-offs themselves are changing, expanding to six teams, from third to eighth position, with seven fixtures instead of five, so the route back for the clubs chasing this trio will be wider next time.

The promotion cycle is the point. Next August some other club will be reading a fixture list like the one Coventry, Hull and Ipswich have in front of them now, which is what makes the promoted clubs 2026/27 such a good watch: nobody knows yet which of the three will still be here a year from now.

FAQ

Which clubs are promoted to the Premier League for 2026/27? Coventry City, Hull City and Ipswich Town. Coventry came up as Championship winners after 25 years away, Hull won the 2026 play-off final against Middlesbrough, and Ipswich secured automatic promotion.

Who did the promoted clubs replace? West Ham, Burnley and Wolves, who finished 18th on 39 points, 19th on 22 and 20th on 20. The survival line last season was 41 points, which kept Spurs up in 17th.

Which promoted club has the hardest opening fixtures? Coventry City, who start at Arsenal on the Friday night and then travel to Man City in gameweek three. Hull and Ipswich also meet top-four opposition inside the first three rounds, but only Coventry face the top two.

When do the promoted clubs first play each other? Coventry City host Hull City on 29 August, the first all-promoted fixture of the season, with Ipswich meeting both Man Utd and Liverpool across the same three gameweeks.

Key takeaways

• The promoted clubs 2026/27 are Coventry City, Hull City and Ipswich Town, replacing West Ham, Burnley and Wolves.
• Coventry return after 25 years under Frank Lampard and face the hardest start: Arsenal away on the Friday night, then Man City away in gameweek three.
• The survival line from 2025/26 was 41 points in 17th; 39 points in 18th was not enough, and that two-point gap is the practical target for all three.
• All three promoted clubs meet last season's top four inside the first three gameweeks, and Coventry v Hull on 29 August is the first all-promoted fixture.
• The Championship play-offs expand to six teams from this season, widening the promotion route for the clubs chasing this trio next year.